


Frenzied Spirit

by Hawkflight



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Halloween, Halloween Costumes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-03 09:17:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2845826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkflight/pseuds/Hawkflight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before that night he was just known as Giles. Before that night he hadn't been Ripper in a long time. Now though he's not sure how to stop being Ripper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome. I got this idea while watching the episode "Halloween" so - big shocker - that is when this starts. It'll likely span a few episodes after as well. There will be some cannon conversations in here, but they should thin out eventually. Hopefully this doesn't end up boring because of that.

He shouldn't be thinking about her. Giles knew this but he couldn't stop his thoughts from going back to just a few days before, on Halloween.

 _He had been going over the index cards, looking through the cataloged books for a specific tome when she stepped through the wall. Not the door, but a bloody_ wall. _His arms sprang apart, the cards flying everywhere at once when he jumped at her sudden appearance._

_Willow was standing there in the library, in clothes he hadn't even dreamed of seeing her in. So much of her skin was exposed, even with that flimsy excuse for a shirt, and her skirt... it was short, revealing long legs she usually kept hidden with jeans._ ___But it was her, standing there with a sheepish little smile. "Hi."_

_He just managed to get his composure back, still staring at her as he tried to greet her in return. His tongue wouldn't quite work though, he got a few sounds out that started with the letter h but wasn't able to get much further past that one letter. At that point he gave up and just stood there for a moment, rolling his tongue in his mouth, trying to get it to move properly again so he could actually speak. Giles sighed, shoulders finally lowering with the sound._

_"I'm sorry." Willow said, though she didn't particularly look it. She looked about to burst out laughing at him. He could only thank her silently for not going through with her initial reaction. "I should have used the door..." Her brow furrowed. "Except I would have just gone through it anyway. Perhaps that would have been a better choice, cause, well, I would have. It's just the parents are out there in the halls and me being able to walk through them likely would have startled them more than it startled you."_

_"I wasn't-" he began to defend himself when that little smirk appeared again. "Fine." Giles turned away to head into the cage that held the books he had been working to index before she popped in on him. "So, how have you come to walk through walls?" he asked, looking down at his books so he wouldn't be gazing at her._

_"It's a funny story actually. It would be more so if there weren't children-turned-demons running around in the streets terrorizing the trick-or-treaters."_

_"What?" he couldn't stop himself from asking the question at such an odd explanation._

_"The trick-or-treaters all became what they were masquerading as for Halloween." Willow simplified, getting right to the point. That was something he liked about her. Her directness, when she wasn't rambling that is. Which was quite an endearing trait as well. Even so he found himself still confused. To keep his attention on the task at hand he picked up the pile of books, exiting the cage to see Willow had moved to the podium to look at the open book on top of it. "I wish I knew what to look for in this situation. Plus I can't turn the page. Have you ever heard of something like this happening before?"_

_"No. I haven't." He settled the books on the table, slowly as not to drop them as he found his gaze unwilling to move from Willow once more. "All right, let's review," he said, to get himself to focus again, just managing to move his gaze away until Willow was standing off to his left, quiet as a cat. Giles reached up to take his glasses off, so he couldn't see her quite as clearly. "So everybody became whatever they were masquerading as." He couldn't help but glance up as he spoke, still marginally confused._

_"Right," She nodded her head, and his eyes trailed after her as she walked around him. Even without his glasses her legs looked enticing, wrapped in barely-there black_ _pantyhose_ _that did nothing but compliment her form and chosen outfit. "Xander was a soldier, and Buffy was an eighteenth-century girl." She stopped in front of him, loose strands of hair framing her face._

_"And your..." His gaze dropped back to her legs and he blinked quickly, moving his head up before opening his eyes again. "Your costume?" he finally managed to ask the one piece of the puzzle he couldn't quite put together._

_"I'm a ghost."_

_He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. "Yes. But, umm..." He trailed off as his gaze ran down her form, taking in the entirety of her outfit in one sweep. The fact that her shirt left her midriff bare, the tops of her breasts exposed. The only asset her outfit seemed to hide_ _adequately_ _was her arms and even then they looked... appealing covered in the dark red cloth. Giles looked up when her own gaze started to lower. "The ghost of what exactly?" he asked, hoping she didn't interpret his staring as just that - staring._

_"Well, this is nothing." Willow said, arms raised to cross beneath her breasts. He rather thought she ought to know that that didn't do anything but push her bosom up for an even better view at her cleavage, but couldn't actually get the words out of his mouth, even if he wanted to. "You should see what Cordelia was wearing. A-a unitard with cat things, like ears and stuff."_

_His eyebrows rose at the image that popped into his mind. "Good heavens. Sh-she became an actual feline?"_

_Willow looked somewhat perplexed by his question. "No." Well, that was a small mercy. "She was the same old Cordelia. Just in a cat costume."_

_It took a moment for her words to sink in and the image of Cordelia covered in fur scratching at a sofa vanished from his mind. "She_ didn't _change?"_

_"No," Willow repeated, a frown now on her face. "Hold on. Party Town. She told us she got her outfit from Party Town." Her voice rose as she spoke at her sudden revelation._

_"And everybody who changed, they acquired their costumes where?" he asked, settling his glasses back on his face as he now had something more important to focus on then the alarming outfit Willow wore._

_Though her lips were a dark inviting red, and that black choker on her neck made her pale skin stand out even more than it usually did. "We all got ours at a new place. Ethan's."_

_His gaze slid up from her lips, staring at her, unblinking._

That was the first time in a long while that he felt anger seep into every cell in his body. That he felt like that man again from so long ago when Ethan and his friends would call him Ripper. A name he used to take delight in.

Until that night, when Ethan mocked him and even dared to call him by that old nickname. He only hoped Willow left the store before she heard it. There was no way to tell if she had or not considering she would have walked straight through the door, there would have been no click of it opening and closing.

Just silence as she walked back out into the night, not feeling the cold.

That stunt Ethan had pulled still made his blood boil even now. He would have hurt those he cared about if he hadn't managed to break the spell.

Not just that, he reminded himself. Willow wouldn't have gotten hurt either way, it was quite difficult to harm a ghost when one couldn't touch them. The one thing he would have liked to do-

He sighed, resting his head in his hands.

No Rupert, you shouldn't be thinking about her in such a way. Not when you have Miss Calendar around-No, even with Miss Calendar around he shouldn't be thinking of Willow. He already had the interest of a pretty woman that was around his own age, someone he could actually be with.

He couldn't be with a child - okay, teenager. Still, it wasn't right.

Giles had to keep telling himself this, repeating it over and over in his head. Before Halloween it had worked just fine whenever his thoughts turned to her. After Ethan, after he let himself drop back into his old habits, as Ripper, he couldn't force them away like before.

He needed a distraction.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's a secret."

"What kind of a secret?" he pressed, wishing Jenny would just tell him already.

"Um, the kind that's secret. You know, where I don't actually tell you what it is." she said, starting to sound slightly exasperated at his continued pestering.

Ever since he called her the other night about going out on a date and she said she had an idea she had been like this. No matter how many questions he kept asking. Even when it was the same question just dressed differently each time. "I think it's customary that when two people are going out, that-they both have an idea of where they're going."

"Come on!" Jenny turned to him even as they walked down the crowded hall of students. In the back of his mind he wondered if maybe this conversation should have been moved to a more private place, or at the very least a more quiet one. "Where is your sense of adventure?"

"I-" He stopped to turn fully at her and throw out another question in his last ditch effort to get her to tell him where this date would be taking place. "How will I know what to wear?"

Jenny gave him a clear once over. She was smiling when her eyes rested back on his. "Do you own anything else?"

He glanced down for a moment, trying to put of his answer, but it came anyway when he glanced back up to see her suppressing a laugh. "Er, well, not as such, no."

A pleasant laugh filled his ears. "Rupert, you're gonna have to trust me."

Giles just barely stopped himself from sighing. "All right. I'll put myself in your hands."

The corner of Jenny's lips twisted up into something wicked. "That sounds like fun," she said, starting to walk off down the hall. It left him with the image of her hand wrapped around his cock, moving slowly, teasing him as she leaned down to-He shook his head firmly to get rid of the image, turning when he heard Miss Calendar speaking again, "Okay, tomorrow night. Seven thirty, right?"

"Yes." he replied, having the overwhelming urge to take off his glasses and clean them. As if that would stop the image of her from popping back into his mind.

Right then Buffy seemed to have materialized out of thin air. "Hey."

He wasn't entirely sure if she had perfect or terrible timing. "Hello. Did we... hunt last night?" he asked, trying to switch back to Watcher mode and out of porn film running through head mode.

"I did a couple of quick sweeps downtown."

Her quick answer was certainly helping with the switch. "Any encounters?" It felt for a moment like all he did was ask questions.

"Nothing vampirey."

That reminded him of his studies from the other night, when he hadn't been thinking of... "I've been researching your friend, Spike. The profile is fairly unappetizing. But I still haven't got a bead on why he's here."

"You'll figure it out." Usually he would take such a statement as a compliment, but with how she said it...

"You all right?" he asked, glancing to the young teenager slayer on his left. "You seem a little glum."

"I'm fine."

He stopped just outside the library to turn and look at her properly. She didn't look 'fine' as she described it. "Why don't you take the night off?"

"Okay." A small smile was forming as she seemed to consider it. "That'd be nice."

"Yes," he agreed. "You could spend some time with Angel."

It had just been a suggestion but that smile slipped at the mention of her boyfriend. Well, at this point he was sure they were dating, even if neither had announced it yet. "I don't know. He might have other plans." With that she walked off before he could think of something reassuring to say, leaving him in front of the library.

With a sigh as she disappeared into the throng to get to class he turned and walked into the library, setting his bag down in his office before he set to work in checking that all the school books were in there rightful place and that those returned were back on the shelves. When he was done he retreated to his office to look over the journals on Spike. There had to be something in them as to why the vampire would come here of all places.

When the school began to close for the day he grabbed the books he had been going through and went home to go over them again before going to bed, keeping his mind filled with ideas of what could be in Sunnydale that would interest the vampires.

On his way to the library the next day he slowed, seeing Willow walking swiftly up the stairs, eyes darting around for some reason he could only begin to imagine. No. No imagining. He had gone all day yesterday without much thoughts about her, he could do the same today but... What had gotten her so worked up? He should ask her... His gaze fell on Buffy then, with some boy he didn't recognize.

She truly was perfect in her timing and he veered course to get to her. "Buffy! Erm..." he paused. How exactly was he going to tell her this without whoever this boy was getting suspicious. He already had to make sure he didn't look like an old pervert in front of the other teachers with how much time had had to spend around Buffy and her friends. It was a wonder Miss Calendar hadn't gotten that notion in her head before they met. "Yes, er... Miss Calendar and I are going... _somewhere_ tonight." He couldn't help but put extra stress on that one word. Not quite believing he still had no idea where she wished to take him tonight. "She's given me the number of her beeper thingy, er, in case you need me..." Could his mind just stop with the hidden innuendos already? Or was he just worrying too much? That had to be it. "For, erm, study help... suddenly." He finished lamely.

"He knows, Giles."

"What?" The boy knew something? What did he know? Hid mind practically spun with all the possibilities, his thoughts quickly landing on Willow. If this boy had seen him looking longer than necessary-

"Ford knows I'm the Slayer." His thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"I know," the boy, Ford, said with a tight-lipped smile.

Was his floundering earlier really that amusing? "Oh. Er, very good, yes." Damn it. He was doing it again. "Buffy? Excuse me." He motioned her over a few steps away into the hall. "You are not by any chance betraying your secret identity just to impress cute boys, are you?"

Buffy just smiled at what he thought to be a serious question though. "I didn't tell him. He knew."

"Oh." He glanced back to Ford. "Er, right then." Giles turned back to Buffy. "Just remember, if you-"

"Go!" Buffy grabbed his arms and he found himself become as still as a statue for a moment. "Experience this thing called fun." Her hands dropped away as she grinned at him. "I'll try not to have a crisis." She walked back to her friend and after another second had passed he smiled.

That's what he was hoping to have tonight, fun. Even if he didn't know where he was going.

The roar of an engine made him blink, take off his glasses, rubbing at them with a cloth before sliding them back on his face. Nope, it was still there.

A large truck with it's engine impossibly loud as it rolled over the top of a car beneath it. The word, 'Pulverizer' emblazoned on the side of the vehicle in bright yellow, sticking out even further as the rest of the vehicle was covered in black glossy paint. The edges along the wheels were the same yellow with flickers of orange and red spinning on the wheel itself as it surged off the last vehicle into the air, landing with a crash a moment later. It bobbed along the ground, the large wheels keeping the metal frame from touching the dirt beneath.

Even as that truck came to a stop another came out from beneath the stands. A purple horned demon painted on the hood as it began it's tearing rampage through the course of decimated cars, speeding off the ramps into the air above deep pits with buses stacked inside them. The wheels were a good few feet above the yellow and dented buses. It was likely a few trucks from before had clipped the metal to create the dents or simply hadn't made the full jump like this one.

A loud shout erupted across the stands when the truck touched down and Giles just suppressed the urge to jump from his seat. The crowd was almost as bad as the cars at making needless noise. He had to wonder who's bright idea it was to make this into a spectator's sport considering it was just men - and the occasional woman - driving trucks over small trucks and cars, essentially trashing the area while kicking up clouds of dirt when they turned. It didn't leave him to wonder why the walls were so high when that happened and he felt some bits of sand land in his lap.

He quickly brushed it off of his suit he had worn to this occasion. It made him stick out like a sore thumb. If he had known better he wouldn't have dressed up this nicely to have dirt occasionally sprayed on him. Not that Miss Calendar seemed to mind, but then again...

_"...naked mud dancing."_

She wouldn't be one to care about a little dirt if she had really participated in that. It made him wonder if she actually had or if it was just a joke. There was a tugging at his mind that it was a joke, but still. He could imagine, couldn't he?

Her pale toes slipping into the mud, to suck at the sole of her foot when she raised it up from the brown muck. Just to take a further step into the dark substance, her ankle quickly disappearing as she bent down to run her hands through it and throw the mud at the other occupants in the pile. It would start flying through the air as the mud got thrown around, hitting her squarely in the back as she laughed, a bright smile on her face as she soon became covered in the mud, only hints of her skin showing through as she spun away, arms wide.

Black strands of hair turned red as she came to a halt and suddenly Jenny was gone and it was Willow in front of him. Willow covered in mud, naked beneath, grinning up at him as her body sunk lower as she stood still, telling him to come in and join her and have some fun.

She was bouncing forward on the toes of her feet, gripping his arm, body flush against his side as she dragged his suddenly naked body into the pit. Her arms raised to hook around his neck as she raised herself up so her lips brushed against his ear, _"Come dance with me, Ripper."_

"Rupert." Jenny's voice shattered the image in his mind and he quickly looked to her, hoping his face wasn't as red as he thought it was. "What were you thinking about?"

There was no way she had missed the reddening of his cheeks. "Naked mud dancing." It wasn't a complete lie.

Her eye brows shot up and then she was laughing, taking his arm in hand as she stood up. "Well, save that thought. Buffy just beeped us."

As he followed Jenny back to her car he thanked the gods that he could leave this noisy stadium early. Even if it did cut into his fantasy time. He would be able to focus more on it when he got home.


	3. Chapter 3

His head was still pounding from last night and his dreams from this morning weren't helping in the least either. With a sigh he pushed open the door to his car to shut the metal behind him once he was out. He could certainly do with forgetting those flashes of his young adult years, but they kept sneaking up on him.

Sure, he dreamt about them every once and awhile, but usually they weren't like they had been that morning. Not with so much detail, crystal clear, slipping into every crevice of his mind. Like some spirit was trying to coax it's way into his mind. Not that it needed any coaxing back then. He had let it in freely, without taking control of him that is.

_Sitting on the floor, right between two of his friends as they chanted some words that went right over his head. The feel of the carpet beneath his fingers when he leaned forward, a prickling at his skin when Ethan copied the Mark of_ _Egyhon_ _onto his skin. Candles flickering in the dark as the solo from a guitar bled out of a nearby speaker._

_"Time to go to sleep."_

_The words echoed in his head as a warm substance trickled through his mind, like honey, rolling through his body. It felt better, more intense than anything he had ever smoked. It felt like pure power, and it was racing through his veins. Through him alone. He leaned back, smiling even as the screams started-_

He had to close his eyes, hand firmly on the metal that steadily grew warm beneath his hand before he could pull himself from the memory. With the thought that someone might have noticed him spacing out and he walked quickly in the direction of the library, stopping only to remind a student that a book he had was due soon.

"Giles!"

He turned quickly, gaze soon coming to settle on Buffy and... Willow. He had avoided her well enough up to now without raising any suspicions of such or he rather thought he had. She didn't look angry or sad when she met his gaze, so he hoped not. He wouldn't ever want her upset with him. He berated himself a second later. His gaze was lingering on someone he couldn't have, again. "Oh. There you are." He directed his attention to Buffy, not even chancing a glance at Xander with Willow between him and Buffy.

"Hey, morning. Say, is that tweed?"

"What?" He looked down at his outfit that Buffy had so blatantly commented on. "Oh, yes. Now, look. Tonight is very important," he began, walking towards the school building when he felt his gaze start to wander again. Do _not_ look at her!

"Now that's a surprise." Buffy said, quickly following him, and he could hear the others doing so as well as he entered the crowded hallway. "So, what's on tap tonight that's so important? Uprising? Prophesied ritual? Preordained death-fest?"

"Ah, the old standards." Xander announced behind him.

Giles turned his head slightly, to glance at him for such a random outburst but quickly turned back as his eyes strayed to Willow and her red hair, straight and looking smooth as ever in the light. He could only imagine how soft it was. "Um, a medical transport is delivering a monthly supply of blood to the hospital."

"Hm. Vampire meals-on-wheels."

"Hopefully not." He muttered as she stopped to turn and face the three as he heard them go to the lockers and start fiddling with the locks. "We'll meet outside the hospital at eight thirty sharp. I'll bring the weaponry." Giles looked down just after Willow looked over at him, just avoiding eye contact at the last second. She was back to wearing conservative clothing that left her form to the imagination. The kind he liked to picture her in before mentally removing each piece of clothing. Like her current red and gray striped long sleeved shirt with the dark pants that almost covered every inch of skin possible. It just made it all the more tempting to reach out and draw her into his arms, to unbutton the top of her shirt and kiss the skin beneath it...

"I'll bring the party mix." Buffy announced.

Bloody hell. He couldn't be thinking about Willow like this now with her in the same room. "Just don't be late." He chanced a glance at Buffy.

"Have I ever let you down?" she asked, sunglasses now sitting on the top of her head.

His own tilted to the side as he studied her, trying to discern if she was serious or not. "Do you want me to answer that or shall I just glare?" he pointedly asked.

"Morning, England."

He turned quickly. "Oh, hello, Ms, er... Jenny." Giles finally stopped on her given name after he was unsure for a moment how to respond to her own greeting.

"Feel the passion." His ears seemed to be oversensitive to Willow's voice when she spoke as the words echoed in his head, floating through his mind. If there was any passion he wanted to feel it was with her.

"Willow." Miss Calendar warned with a glance at the girl for her observation.

"Coughing, not speaking." Willow supplied a few coughs to make her case.

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" With Jenny looking to the three teenagers he glanced down the hallway so he wouldn't have to do the same.

"What's tomorrow?" He heard Xander ask.

"I'm reviewing some computer basics with a couple of students who've fallen behind." Giles didn't miss the glance Jenny threw at him and he hoped she didn't think it was her he was trying not to look at. "Willow's helping out for extra credit." Well that settled his plans for Saturday. Home with his books.

Xander was laughing. "Those poor schlubs have to attend school on a Saturday."

"Nine am okay with you, Xander?"

He turned just in time to see the smile fall from the boy's face. Willow was smirking at her friend, evidently trying not to laugh. Buffy closed her locker, turning to her friend, "You've got a bit of schlub on your shoe there." This time Xander's laugh was short, as if trying to mock her right back. Apparently the little pat he got on the shoulder from Willow did nothing to help his mood either.

"Well, Cordelia's gonna meet us."

"Ooh gang, you hear that? A bonus day of class plus Cordelia. Mix in a little rectal surgery and it's my best day ever!"

Giles smiled to fight the laugh that wished to be released at Xander's expense. "Walk me to class?" Jenny asked, a somewhat disturbed expression on her face.

"Pleasure."

Once they were around the corner and away from those three she turned to him. "By the way, thank you for loaning me the Forester book. It's wonderful."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he replied, wondering if he should loan a book or two to Willow. She enjoyed reading quite a bit as well and he had caught her looking at some of the more magical texts recently. Perhaps if he supervised... Uh uh, not going down that road. You're with Miss Calendar right now, don't be thinking of other women!

"It was so romantic. So evocative." Jenny was saying as his mind quibbled,

So you can think of her when Miss Calendar isn't around? When you're not with her? Then why not leave her if she can't excite you as much as the the other girl? "That edition was my father's. I must have read it twenty times." He hoped talking would move his thoughts elsewhere. It was already difficult enough to focus and the morning hadn't even started.

"Yeah. You know how you have to dog-ear your favorite pages so you can go back to them?"

"Eh-What?" His gaze moved quickly to Jenny, a panic starting to swell in his chest.

"Well, I practically had to fold back every single page. So finally I just started underlining all the pages I really wanted to discuss."

"Underlined?" He _had_ to be hearing things. This was his punishment for not paying a word of attention to what she said back at the monster truck show, or maybe it was for ignoring Willow.

"But then of course I spilt coffee all over it. Now I can't even read it."

"It's a first edition," he muttered, unable to believe his book could be reduced to such a state.

"I'm lying Rupert." Jenny said, a little smirk on her lips as she pulled the book from her purse. "The book's fine." He felt a wave of relief to see there was no visible damage to the book. "I just love to see you squirm."

He swallowed rather loudly as he glanced down for a moment. "I trust I gave good... squirm." Giles looked back up, smiling, hoping his words didn't sound as bad as they did when they left his mouth.

"Did anyone ever tell you you're kind of a fuddy-duddy?"

He felt his smile slowly vanish. Those words had definitely come out wrong. "Nobody ever seems to tell me anything else," he replied, leaning on the wall.

"Did anyone ever tell you you're kind of a sexy fuddy-duddy?" Miss Calendar had angled herself slightly toward him as she spoke.

He paused, looking at her before replying, "No, actually. That part usually gets left out. I can't imagine why."

"This weekend."

He stood up straight, wondering if he was just reading between the syllables or not. "Would you like to go out?"

"Mm, no, I think I'd like to stay in." The idea immediately sunk into his mind. If a night with Jenny couldn't stop him from thinking of Willow afterward, then maybe he would think himself lost. But, for now at least, he saw a clear way to get over her.


	4. Chapter 4

Jenny was leaning forward and he felt himself leaning down to meet her lips. Barely a second later the sound of the school's bell assaulted his ears and he drew away just as the first student came into the hallway, a tide of them following.

"This..." He cleared his throat. "Saturday." It was just a suggestion, but he would rather not wait until Sunday.

"Saturday night." Jenny confirmed. She looked out towards the students for a moment as if checking if any of them were focusing on the two of them before she leant toward him. "Let's see if I can make you squirm," her voice had lowered a bit but it didn't stop him from hearing her words.

He shifted on his foot before starting down the hall, giving her a smile just as he turned and made his way over to the library. The moment he pushed open the swinging door though the smile vanished from his face.

There was a woman standing next to his desk in business attire, her purse was open, a clipboard and other documents out on the surface of the wood. Behind her was two policemen. "Rupert Giles?'

He had no idea what they could want with him. "Yes?"

Once his identity had been confirmed the woman pulled out a badge from her person, flipping it open for him to see. "Detective Winslow. You're gonna have to come with me."

"Why?" he couldn't help the defensive tone his voice had taken at such a demand.

"There was a homicide on campus last night. The victim had no identification, but he was carrying this slip of paper," Winslow reached out to grab the slip from the shelf, it was contained in a plastic bag. "With your name and address on it."

He set his briefcase down on the desk and stepped forward to get a better look at the piece of paper. "My name?" He could hardly believe it. What would someone being doing with his name and address? And more importantly for that matter, who would be carrying that information around but not their own ID?

Giles heard the door swing open and the clack of heals, already knowing who it was by the footwear. Not a lot of people came into his library so it didn't take much to figure it out. "Well, evil just compounds evil, doesn't it?" Cordelia said as he turned around to face her. "First I'm sentenced to a computer tutorial on Saturday, now I have to read some computer book. There are books on computers? Isn't the point of computers to replace books?" He wondered for a moment how she found time to breath when she talked so fast.

"Cordelia, I'm a little busy right now." He turned, hoping that when she saw the police she got the point and could then vanish herself from the room.

Instead he soon felt himself pushed further off to the side as Cordelia stepped forth. "Oh, great! Can you help me with a ticket? It was totally bogus. It was a one-way street. I was going one way."

Just the sound of her voice, getting all whiny and hopeful at once grated on his nerves. The fact that she was bothering the police about a silly little ticket just made him about ready to scowl. "Cordelia!"

"What?" She jumped, spinning quickly around to face him. "Why does everyone always yell my name? I'm not deaf." She might as well be if he was the judge of that. "And I can take a hint... What's the hint?" If the situation wasn't so serious he might have laughed.

"To come back later," he said, slowly to make sure she understood the words.

"Yeah, when you've visited decaf land." There was a pout on her face but he ignored it as she passed by him to exit the library.

Once the door clicked, signalling it was closed he turned his attention back to the police. "Where do you want me to go?"

"Do you know where the Sunnydale Morgue is?" Winslow asked, already starting to collect her documents.

"Yes."

"Then I'll see you there." Winslow left the library with the two officers.

It didn't take long for him to follow. He just grabbed his briefcase before walking out the door after them, following at a distance to the parking lot to get in his car.

After a few tries to get his key even into the ignition slot the engine came to life and he backed out of the parking space, turning onto the road to follow after the two cars that had just left the vicinity of the school, only one of them actually being a police car.

He was soon parked near the morgue, getting out of the car to walk into the front office and following after the detective when she announced he was with her to see the body.

Who's body? The question kept pestering him even as he followed Winslow to the back rooms where a technician was waiting.

As soon as he saw the two of them he opened one of the compartments and dragged the body out on it's metal bed, still covered by a dark cloth. Giles walked forward, watching as the man walked over. "Have you had your breakfast?"

"No." He hadn't been able to after the dreams he had this morning. Just looking at the food had made him sick.

"That was probably a good idea." The technician said, already pulling away the dark blue covering.

Once the fabric went past the head Giles couldn't tear his gaze away from the body. He had been involved in the rituals of Eyghon, he had been a... friend of sorts back then. Twenty years ago.

"Do you know him?" Detective Winslow jarred him from his thoughts.

"Yes," he breathed out, rather shakily. It hadn't been on purpose, but he was almost sure know as to why he was having the vivid dreams. "I-I mean, I did. His name's Philip Henry. He was a friend of mine from London. I haven't spoken to him in twenty years."

He glanced up just as the Detective asked, "Can you think of any reason why he might have wanted to contact you?"

"No." The word came out of his mouth even as his eyes found the mark on his friend's skin. The same mark that was on his own forearm, beneath all the layers of tweed. An ever present reminder of his days as Ripper.

"Do you know what that is?" He felt himself practically freeze up. His past was interfering with his life again, Eyghon was coming for him. "That tattoo?"

"No." He made himself say it. The police couldn't handle a demon. "No, I don't."

He wasn't sure how or when he left the morgue, how he got to his own house. It was all a blur. He didn't even know when he had called the school to take the rest of the day off, he just knew it had been done. That at some point he had picked up the phone and set it back down. Then he was sitting on the couch, staring forward at the old small television set and the empty black screen it held.

He couldn't get the image of Ethan out of his head, what he said not too long ago on the night of Halloween. Did he come to Sunnydale because of Eyghon?

_He stepped into the shop, keeping the door open on habit for Willow even if she would have been fine walking through it. Giles stepped forward slowly, glancing around at the costumes and their accessories all laid out on the shelved or hanging down from a hook. "Hello? Is anyone home?" The door hadn't been locked. If it had he would have gotten it open anyhow, no matter if Willow saw him fiddling with the door. Finding Ethan was more important than her seeing him pick a lock in a matter of seconds._

_"Giles?"_

_He turned at the sound of Willow's voice near the back of the room and walked over, his gaze landed on the statue beyond her. "Janus. A Roman mythical god." It's eyes were glowing green. Wherever Ethan was he had used this as part of the spell._

_"What does this mean?" Willow asked._

_"Primarily the division of self. Male and female. Light and dark."_

_"Chunky and creamy. Oh, no. Sorry. That's peanut butter." His head shot up to see Ethan step out into the backroom, holding that usual grin of mischief. One he used to share._

_"Willow, get out of here." If there was one person that could harm a ghost it was Ethan, and he wouldn't let any harm come to her._

_"But-"_

_"Now!" he snapped, not tearing his gaze away from Ethan for one second. He gave her half a minute to exit the store, more than enough time until he spoke again, "Hello, Ethan."_

_Ethan's grin just seemed to grow. "Hello, Ripper." His gaze darted back behind him and for a second he wondered if Willow was still in the store. But when Ethan spoke next he knew she had left, just like he told her to. "What a pleasant girl. Soft on the eyes, creamy smooth skin all laid bare. I'm surprised you even noticed me with such a young dove around." Those eyes were trained back on him with their own smile, just goading him to say something, but Giles remained silent. "What? No hug?" Ethan walked to the other side of the room, picking up a costume from on top of a box. "Aren't you pleased to see your old mate, Rupert?"_

_"I'm just surprised I didn't guess it was you," he said, making his way around the room. "This Halloween stunt stinks of Ethan Rayne." Giles stopped, glancing back to the statue, the circle around it on the floor. It had most certainly been a part of a ritual spell-casting. He just need to know what else had been involved._

_"Yes, it does, doesn't it? Don't wish to blow my own trumpet, but it's genius. The very embodiment of, 'Be careful what you wish for.'"_

_"It's sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent." The slayer, her friend Xander, and Willow. His sweet Willow._

_"Oh, and we all know that you are the champion of innocence and all things pure and good Rupert." It was only then that Ethan turned to face him. "It's quite a little act you've got going here, old man."_

_"It's no act. It's who I am." Even as he said the words they sounded wrong in his mouth._

_Ethan must have picked up on it. "Who you are? The Watcher? Sniveling, tweed-clad guardian of the Slayer and her kin? I think not." A thin smile was present for only a second. "I know who you are, Rupert, and I know what you're capable of." He grinned. "But they don't, do they? They have no idea where you come from."_

_And he did. He wasn't saying exactly where, the things they done, just reminding him. Of Ripper, and all the things he had done. Of all the things he couldn't have because he kept Ripper locked in a box. Out of sight, so the world wouldn't see. But Ethan was seeing right though everything he had set up, was tearing it down and making the iron bars rot. And Ripper was banging on the cage... "Break the spell, Ethan. Then leave this place and never come back."_

_Soon he was standing right in front of him, his old mate. "Why should I? What's in the bargain for me?"_

_"You get to live."_

_"Oh, Rupert, you're scaring me-"_

_His fist centered in on Ethan's gut, making the man kneel over with a sharp cross of a yell and a groan. With his head down, level with his waist, Ripper brought up his knee to knock him in the head, watching as the man fell back to the ground._

_"Now, now," Ethan said, looking up at him, a bruise starting to form along his jaw. "No reason to be hasty, dear friend." He had the overwhelming urge to hit him again when Ethan yelled, "What would she say?" His fingers uncurled from the fist they had been making. Ethan's voice lowered after seeing his question have some effect on Ripper. "If your friend, Willow, could see you right now, what would she say?" His jaw clenched. How dare he bring Willow into this! "She doesn't know about Ripper, does she?"_

_"No," he replied, wondering which method would shut him up faster. A kick to the groin? Or a hand around his neck? Perhaps both? One right after the other._

_"Ah, of course not. Because your the guardian of the slayer, protecting the innocents from all things evil. And somehow, despite her current looks, Willow is innocent. Something you need to protect from yourself, am I right?'_

_A sharp kick to Ethan's ribs was answer enough. "You never did learn how to shut up about other people's affairs."_

_There was a shallow intake of breath. "Each one was always so interesting. But not as interesting as this one." Ethan smiled up at him. "I heard you moved here barely a year ago after the last slayer died. You've been watching Willow that whole time, haven't you? Lusting after such a young sweet thing, so easily corrupted if only you had the gall to reach out and take it, Ripper."_

_It was almost funny. How the thoughts of Rupert could be seen so easily, but with all the times he had let his gaze linger on the girl was it really that surprising? "The costume business suits you. Watching everyone pretend to be something they're not. Something they crave to be, which they believe to only exist in fairy tales."_

_Ethan chuckled. "But you're not from a fairy tale."_

_"No," Ripper agreed. "I exist." He narrowed his eyes at the man. "And you should know better than to threaten my prey."_

_"Prey? What a sweet-" Ethan yelled again when his foot met with the man's elbow. Not hard enough to crack the bone, but hard enough to leave a lasting bruise. Hard enough to hurt. "And you said the Ripper was long gone."_

_"Tell me how to stop the spell."_

_"Say, 'pretty please.'" Another kick to the gut, another scream. "What a pleasant future little Willow will have with such a beast. I wonder what her pet name for you will be?"_

_He kicked him again, watching the flicker of pain in those eyes. "Tell me how to break the spell."_

_"Janus... Break its statue."_

_He moved quickly to grab the head of the Roman god, raising it above his head to smash against the ground-_


	5. Chapter 5

_Tap, tap._

Giles blinked, his vision refocusing.

Ethan was no longer on the ground in front of him, shards of stone scattered at his feet. He wasn't in the costume shop, trying to get himself back under control. Trying to push back the temptation to kick his old mate again, even though he had already given up the information.

No. Instead he was sitting on his couch, staring at a half full bottle of scotch, no shot glass in sight.

_Tap._

He whipped his head around to look at the door, groaning when the swift movement made his head spin. "Coming," he muttered, rising to his feet and stumbling his way across the room to the door. He slid the grate over the peephole aside, resiting the urge to sigh when he saw Buffy standing there in the middle of the night. Good heavens. He pulled the door open. "Buffy. It's late. Are you all right?" And why are you here? He wanted to ask.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." He didn't much appreciate the tone she was using.

"Yes. No, I'm fine. Fine," he said it twice just to reassure her as he leaned heavily against the door, taking care to not leave it open all the way or else she would likely see the bottle on his coffee table and refuse to leave. All he wanted right now was peace and quite. To get new locks for the shattered cage in his mind. "I'm, er... I'm rather busy at the moment, so I'll see you on Monday at school."

"Wh-" Buffy pushed the door back open when he went to close it. "Giles, did you forget? The hospital? Vampires? Handy carry-out packets of blood?"

It took him a moment to piece the words together. "Oh!" Right, he had said he would be there. "Yes, um... Are you all right? Were you hurt?"

"No." Then why was she bothering him at this hour? "I mean, my feelings a little." Couldn't her feelings just bugger off then? He had to hold the chuckle in his throat. "What's wrong?"

You're still in my doorway. "Nothing, nothing. Nothing's wrong." He had to shake his head to stop the grin that wished to spread over his face. "I'm just in the middle of something extremely important. And, well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to say good night right now." Giles closed the door quickly after seeing the stunned look in her eyes. He wanted to laugh, but she was probably still standing there. Shocked.

After a moment he walked forward to his desk, grabbing a pen to scribble down some names before picking up the phone.

"I'm sorry to disturb you. I do realize it's five in the morning there. I'm trying to reach Diedre Page. My name is Rupert Giles. She knows me. It's very important."

The line was silent for a moment. "I apologize Rupert Giles, but you're wasting your time. Diedre, she... she passed away just a few days ago. I'm sorry."

"Oh. I'm terribly sorry. I didn't know," he said, glancing over the list of names on the paper.

"Did you know Diedre?"

"Yes. We were friends when we were young." Hell-raising friends that is. "My condolences."

He set the phone down, gaze still on that paper. So, she was dead. He picked up the pen to cross out her name along with Philip and Thomas, who he knew to have died a couple years back. It was just him and Ethan Rayne on that small slip of paper. Eyghon was taking them out one by one now. The demon had gotten loose.

Diedre... that fool. You needed others to ground you when summoning Eyghon. He must have taken her. And now he had killed Philip. With Ethan still in town the demon could be coming after either one of them. He needed to find it first.

He was woken by the ringing of the telephone and raised his head from the desk, eyes first cementing on the now finished bottle of scotch. If the headache starting to pound through his skull was any clue he would need some pain relievers before he went anywhere like he suspected he would need to after answering the phone.

"Hello."

"Giles, it's me." Of course it was.

He sighed. "Buffy, unless this is an emergency, I'll see you on Monday." When I'm not nursing a bloody headache.

"What's the Mark of Eyghon?" He froze. How did she know about that? How could she know about that! "Giles? I'm in your office with someone who claims to be an old friend of yours. Ethan Rayne."

Ethan... "He's there with you? Listen, Buffy. You're in grave danger while Ethan's there. I want you to put the phone down and get out of the library as soon as possible."

"I'm not going answer until you give me some answers." Incompetent child! She was the Slayer, shouldn't she have some sixth sense that told her when danger was lurking nearby? No, of course not. Or else she would have picked up on him the year before.

There was a distant crash on the other side of the phone. "Buffy!"

She wasn't answering. "Bloody hell." He pushed himself up, grabbing his glasses as he walked quickly to the door. It was Saturday and she was at the school. Willow was there. He should have killed Ethan when he had the chance. Then the demon would be in his body and Eyghon wouldn't be near the girl. He could have chopped off his head with a bloody smile plastered on his face.

As things were...

He slid into his car, turning the engine on with a twist of his fingers and shot out onto the road.

Giles shoved the library doors open. "Is everyone all right?"

"Super. I kicked a guy." He wouldn't have thought Cordelia had it in her.

"We're okay." Miss Calendar insisted, glancing at him. Though he only kept her gaze for a moment. The shortest moment of his life.

"Dead guy here interrupted our tutorial." Xander glanced to the cage and his gaze followed him to the demon within. Philip. "Been meaning to thank you for that." Eyghon smashed against the cage with a roar, causing the boy to jump back.

Giles walked forward slowly, never looking away from the demon. "It can't be."

"Yes, it can." Ethan. His head turned quickly to see him sitting in a chair, Buffy standing close by and... Willow. Good. She was okay. Not a mark on her from what he could see. Probably hadn't even initially been in the library. She would have ran when he told her too. It was a pity she wasn't his Slayer. Then he would have more than a million excuses to keep her around at odd hours of the night. "Hello, Ripper." Ethan was smiling. He had caught him looking beyond him instead of at him. His old mate was mocking him.

"I thought I told you to leave town."

"You did. I didn't. Shop's lease is paid till the end of the month." Giles frowned, eyelids descending to narrow at him.

He walked forward towards Ethan and his chair, vaguely aware of Cordelia asking, "Why did he call him Ripper?"

His hand reached out, seeming to go past him before his fingers wrapped around the back of his neck and hauled Ethan to his feet. "You should have left when I told you."

_"Oh."_

"Giles!"

He ignored Buffy, tightening his grip on Ethan and watching him gasp a bit. "You put these people in danger. The people I care about." You put Willow in danger. He said it with his eyes rather than his mouth and Ethan just grinned.

"If you cared so much about them, why didn't you leave town?" He scowled as Ethan pushed his hand away with one of his own. "You've been having the dreams. I know. I have. We both know what's coming."

"What dreams? What is going on here?" Buffy stepped forward into his line of vision and he glanced at her, but kept his mouth sealed tight on the matter.

"Tell her, Ripper." Show them who you are.

"Giles!"

The sound of the cage swinging open behind him, of Miss Caldenar's cut short scream made him turn to see the demon was out. Where was Willow? Near the banister, and you're suppose to be in love with Jenny, not the girl, he reminded himself.

His gaze landed on the computer teacher. "Jenny!" He moved forward quickly, bending down to get to her side and away from the demon.

He could hear Buffy pound the creature back up against the cage and turned his head to see Eyghon get back up with a grunt before going still. Then he started shaking, grunting as he fell to the ground and dissolved into a puddle of blue goo.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day." His gaze flickered to Willow, letting his gaze linger a few more seconds with everyone's attention on the demon.

"I'm gonna be in therapy till I'm thirty." Cordelia's voice made a hollow echo in his head as he still ran Willow's words through his mind. He wanted nothing more than to go over and check that she was unharmed, even though she was the furthest away from the combat. Even though it would just be a poor excuse to touch her skin, lips-

"Where's Ethan?" His gaze snapped to Buffy as she raced toward the door. "Where'd he go?" She disappeared from his vision.

The woman in his arms was stirring... He glanced back down. "Are you all right, Jenny?"

"Ow." Was her only reply.

"Careful. Can you stand?" He was already raising her to her feet, willing her to say yes so he could get rid of her and check on Willow. Alone.

"I think so." Miss Calendar said, slowly getting back to her feet. So feeble.

"This is what happens when you have school on Saturday." Cordelia muttered from the west stairs.

"Lean on me." He motioned Jenny close, so her head was laying just above his chest. If it wasn't for his interest before in making himself seem more normal he could have just pushed her into a chair and asked Cordelia to take her home. "It'll be all right," he assured her, running his hand through black hair that he wished was red, like fire.

Miss Calendar raised her head. "Promise?"

"I promise."

Her lips tugged up into a short smile. "I believe you."

He walked her to the table, pulling out a chair for her to sit in. "Go get a bowl of cold water," he instructed Xander, sitting on the desk so his back faced Willow. It wouldn't do to be staring at her now.

Xander was quick to get up and fetch what he told him. The boy might as well have been a dog with how swift he was to carry out the order. What _did_ Willow see in him? "Here."

With the bowl now on top of the table he dipped his fingers in, moving them up to run along Miss Calendar's forehead that had taken the brunt of the door. "How's your head?"

"Throbbing."

"I lost Ethan." Bloody load of help you are. He could just her at the top of his vision when her shoes came to a halt at the desk. "Giles, what's going on?"

"It's complicated, Buffy. And quite frankly, it's private."

"I don't care from private. I care from dead guys attacking us. I care from you last-weekending in your apartment." She would bring that up. It's likely the others knew about that night as well. This girl could just not keep her mouth shut.

"I wasn't." He had to stop himself from snapping at her. "I was just trying to find a solution."

"Giles, share. What is the Mark of Eyghon?"

He'd had enough. "Hey!" His head shot up to look her in the eye. "This is not your battle. And as your Watcher, I'm telling you unequivocally to _stay out of it_." He turned back to Miss Calendar. "Now, I have to get Jenny home."

"Mm. Thank you." He helped her out of the chair, able to tell she was still weak just from her voice. Giles wrapped an arm around her to keep her steady as they walked, forcing his eyes on the double doors so they wouldn't stray to Willow sitting on the library desk. He just needed to focus on getting Miss Calendar home, that's it.


	6. Chapter 6

"Thanks for bringing me here. I'm not quite ready to be home alone just yet." Jenny was saying as he handed her the glass of scotch.

She had initially passed out when she first got here and had just woken up recently. From the look in her eyes she was still tired, still sluggish after the events that had taken place at the school library. Everything would have been so much better if no one had been there when Ethan went looking to cause trouble. Really, he was more than likely trying to go through the large amount of occult books for a way to throw the demon off his scent, and for all Giles knew he had been successful. It was difficult to tell right now. His link to the demon shared by Ethan wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, but Ethan wasn't likely to be just waiting around.

He knew his friend, he was a person of action and selfish. Whatever he was doing right now it was to lengthen his own life. As for Rupert, his life was forfeit in his old mate's eyes. He really should have killed him on Halloween.

"Ooh," Miss Calendar seemed surprised when she took a sip of the alcohol. As if not quite expecting the taste or maybe she just couldn't handle it right now.

"Jenny. I..." He took a breath, working his vocal cords just _that_ way. Like his voice was cracking on words, hesitant, unsure, just leaking concern. " I'm so very sorry about all of this." He leaned forward to set his own untouched glass down, removing his glasses a moment later. "I, er... I never meant for you to be involved in..." He shook his head, as if that would help get the thoughts of what could have happened this afternoon out of his mind. If Willow had gotten hurt... "Any of this."

"So I got involved." Perhaps. By a dent, but nothing more. A dent was easy to fix though. It just usually wasn't this easy. "It's what happens when two people... get involved." He turned to see her lips curved into a little rather coy smile.

Giles leant forward, for a moment wanting to kiss those lips, so full, so tender looking, but then he stopped. No. This fool of a woman was hardly his type. His type was Willow. Sweet Willow. This woman was someone he needed to remove from his life, at least to the girlfriend extent. Her knowledge of computers and being a technopagan could still be useful, particularly to Buffy when he could drag Willow away. "I really am going to have to get you home. It's not, er... I'm not a very safe person to be around at the moment." As if he ever was safe to be around."

"Nothing's safe in this world, Rupert." He caught her gaze, the tilt of her head. Almost awkward, that's how she was handling herself right now. Too easy. "Don't you know that by now?" He allowed a smile to come over his face as her hand moved through his hair. There was just a tad too much pressure in her fingers as her hand moved to the back of his head.

He looked away, back to the glass of scotch. Hers was also on the table, mostly untouched. Perhaps he should get something she could actually drink down that didn't cause a burn in her throat that he found to be rather pleasant. "You're right." He stood up, feeling her hand fall away, trailing at his arm. It disgusted him. "Would you like some tea?" he asked, wandering over to the kitchen, more convinced than ever.

It was Eyghon. The demon had jumped from Philip's body to Miss Calendar's when she had passed out. And now the demon was trying to seduce him with that body. He had to resist the urge to laugh. As if he would ever care to get in bed with that woman. Even if he could be with her for one night, then simply stop paying attention to her until she went away on the pretense of, 'I fucked you, now I'm done with you.' The only problem with that was Buffy and her friends would take notice. That when he came onto Willow she would think it was for the same reason.

In a way it was. Except she wasn't trash to throw away. She was quite a bit more, with all that untapped energy just flying around her without any direction to go. He could hone it, and once he did... Well, then everything would be perfect and his fiery computer nerd wouldn't look once at anyone else even if he wasn't around.

_Thunk._

"What was that?" He glanced over his shoulder to see Eyghon standing by his desk, right next to the phone.

"What was what?" The demon was still using her voice when it spoke. It was clueless.

"I thought I heard something," he replied, just to keep up the pretense.

"I didn't." As if two simple words could stop that argument. But he knew what he had heard. The demon had ripped the cord for his phone out of it's socket in the wall. Probably so the others couldn't call him and warn him once they figured out Eyghon could only jump from body to body when one was dead or unconscious.

Sorry Jenny, he thought not a caring cell in his body. "Here." He moved out of the kitchen handing her the cup of warm fresh tea. "Drink that and then I'll drive you home." Giles took a sip of his own tea as he watched the demon in front of him.

Eyghon had taken a sip before setting the cup down once more. He had to wonder why he kept doing that. Taking the drink he offered to sip at it then push it away. Was it something in the drink? Or was the body working to push the fluid through it's systems too much work as he controlled the host? "You could take me home..." Eyghon turned from the kitchen, leaving the drink on the bar. "Or you could take advantage of me in my weakened state."

He bent his head down so his smile didn't show. Eyghon was still really going for that hook? Oh well, he would have to be disappointed. Giles took another sip from his mug, setting it down on the bar as well, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose before looking back at the demon. "I don't think so."

Miss Calendar's eyes narrowed at him, in such an uncharacteristic way if he hadn't known before that Eyghon was dwelling inside her he would have known then. "Why not?" Eyghon seemed to notice his mistake and the eyes softened, back to deception. "Don't you find me attractive, Rupert?"

"Rupert?" He turned away so his smile couldn't be seen, but the chuckle escaped him for a moment. "Yes, I imagine Rupert finds you very attractive," Giles said, knowing the demon would be smiling, turning her lips up into a kissable fashion. "As for Ripper-" There was a hiss behind him and he knew he had managed to surprise the demon. "-Well, Ripper doesn't find you very attractive at all Eyghon." He reached out a hand to his desk, clasping a pendant between his fingers. "Such a powerful demon, stuck in such a worthless body. Honestly, I would think you had more class. That you would take someone more powerful for your host."

A growl split the air and he felt the demon's hand on him, wrapping around his throat. Giles raised his hand up, slipping his fingers along the stone so the pendant came in contact with Eyghon's host body.

The demon screamed, pulling it's hands away quickly when the stone touched it's flesh, leaving it burnt, revealing the skin of the demon beneath it. Giles turned quickly, releasing the binding pendant as it would be of no more use now. The demon's facade was crumbling quickly, he could see Eyghon clearly beneath Miss Calendar's skin. "Ripper," Even the voice was demonic now, twisted and low. "You're a fool to challenge me."

Giles didn't give the demon another second to talk, punching his fist into the diaphragm, quickly following it with another blow to the right temple. "No, Eyghon. You're the fool to come chasing after me. Get out of Miss Calendar's body and go back to where you came from."

With a snarl the demon was on him, grabbing him by the arm and throwing him into the wall below the bar. "You always thought too highly of yourself, Ripper-"

The door swung open then, and the demon was caught off as a kick landed on it's head, sending the demon tumbling backwards over the couch to the floor. Eyghon was getting up again though, approaching before Buffy yelled, "Back off!"

Eyghon stopped, sniggering. "Three down, two to go. Be seein' ya!" The demon turned, running forward and crashing out of his house through the window. The shards of glass clattering to the concrete below.

"Are you all right?" Buffy was at his side, crouched next to him as he gazed out the window. "Giles?"

He let out a gasp, as if he didn't have enough air in his lungs for a moment. Giles regained his composure though. "Jenny," he muttered like a wound animal. "Oh, God."

"Giles, how do we stop this?"

"Oh, God. What have I done?" He kept his gaze on that window, fighting back a grin.

"Talk to me!" He had it then, that stunned face, and turned to face Buffy. "Giles, your scaring me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Be Giles." Which one, he wondered. Rupert? Or Ripper? It was so much more fun to be Ripper. "Come on, we fight monsters. This is what we do. They show up, they scare us and I beat 'em up and they go away. This isn't any different."

"It is different." Rupert it was.

"Because you don't know how to stop it?"

"Because I created it." He pushed himself up, letting Buffy help him to the couch even when he didn't need it. "I was twenty one. Studying history at Oxford. And, of course, the occult by night. I hated it. The tedious grind of study, the overwhelming pressure of my destiny. I dropped out. Went to London. Fell in with the worst crowd that would have me." He chuckled bitterly to help with the act. "We practiced magics. Small stuff, for pleasure or gain. Then Ethan and I discovered something... bigger."

"Eyghon."

"Yes," he confirmed. "One of us would, um... go into a deep sleep... and the others would uh, summon him. It was an extraordinary high." He laughed softly at the memory of all that power coursing through his body. Back when he wondered how he could handle it all. One look at Buffy's face and he knew she didn't find it funny at all. He sighed, "God, we were fools."

"And you couldn't control it.'

"One of us, Randall... he lost control. Eyghon took him whole. We tried to exorcise the demon from Randall... but it killed him." He paused. No, that wasn't quite right. "We killed him." That had been a rush, once the guilt had been wiped clean from his system. Buffy turned away, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Not from her Watcher of all things. He continued anyway, "We thought we were free of the demon after that. But now he's back. And, one by one, he will kill us all."

"Three down, two to go." Giles nodded his head. "Then it's going after Ethan. I better beat it there."

He wanted to tell her just to let him die, but that didn't seem like a very Rupert-thing to say. " _We'd_ better."

" _I'd_ better. Giles, you're barely mobile and speed is of the serious essence here."

With a sigh he sat back down. He would have to wait until she was gone then. "I don't know how to stop it without killing Jenny."

"I've got the guys working on it." Which meant Willow. She would be the one to find a soltuion. He just knew it. His sweet Willow... "I'll um... try to contain it until we figure something."

"Buffy." She halted in her way back to the door. "I'm sorry."

"I know," she said. And then she was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

When the door closed behind her he was instantly on his feet, walking from the couch to look out the window Eyghon had busted through.

The demon was long gone now, still in Jenny's body. It was a pity he couldn't just kill it now, but that would make the others grow distant from him. Something he didn't want to pressure them to do. He was still Buffy's Watcher and the Council _was_ paying for him to be here. Quite well, too. Besides his duties concerning the Slayer everything about this place allowed him to do whatever he wanted. As long as he didn't do anything stupid - like kill Jenny - the others wouldn't notice any change. It's not like they knew him well enough to figure out that he wasn't completely the man they first knew.

From here on out he could primarily be Ripper. He could have fun. He could have his sweet little Willow tucked beneath the sheets of his bed at night...

His fingers wrapped around the window sill. No, he couldn't. Not yet. There was still the demon to take care of. Then there was Ethan. At least his old mate hadn't let on to the others his feelings for Willow. That would likely have put a damper on any efforts he made in the future.

Where had Ethan run off to after his appearance at the library anyway? The demon would be coming after him and - as much as he hated to admit - killing Ethan whether the demon possessed him or not would be a stupid move. None of them would understand why it was a better option. They would see Ethan as an inhumane death. It was something the Slayer wasn't likely to tolerate even if she hated Ethan as much as he thought she did. Willow wouldn't like it either. A human life to them was still human, and a slayer didn't kill a human. She was charged to protect them, that's why she was doing it now. Protecting that coward while the demon-

His head spun, that electric guitar screaming it's way back into his mind. He leaned heavily against the window to avoid falling over as the room twisted and turned around him, making his stomach sick. Jenny, possessed by Eyghon flashed through his mind, lips twisted up in a hideous grin as the demon roared from within her and everyone else it had possessed from his circle of old friends. Even Randall, who was screaming as the demon devoured him; mind, body, and soul. Then there was the Mark. On tanned skin, the figure beneath tossing back and forth, blonde hair spilling over her shoulder...

"Ethan," he practically snarled when his senses came back to him. When the room was still again and there was no more sounds in his mind that didn't belong there anymore. He brought his hand away from the window sill, just glancing over the drops of blood surfacing over his palm from the bits of glass that still remained in the bottom of the frame. Giles picked up a cloth from his desk, squeezing his hand into a fist around it as he grabbed his coat and shrugged it on.

With one last glance at his now clean hand he dropped the cloth and walked out the door, tugging his arm through the sleeve. He didn't bother closing the door as he left. His neighbors weren't likely to break in and robbers were something he could deal with himself if any were fool enough to steal from him.

He made his way quickly down to his car, revving up the engine and promising himself that he would get a new one the minute this was all over. That scene of Buffy that had flashed through his mind had given Ethan's location away. The bloody idiot. But the demon would be heading there regardless and he needed to make sure it was killed. To see it dead and know that nothing else from his past would creep back into his life and threaten to expose the man beneath to Buffy and her friends.

There was a green glow disappearing into the store front and he slammed on the breaks, the tires screeching in the night as he flung the car door open and ran to the building. The keys were still in the ignition, but if a theif wanted to take the blasted car they could have it. It was a crappy car anyway.

He swung the door open just as heard a loud slam from inside. "Eyghon! Take me," he said, the moment his eyes landed on Buffy. He could see Ethan as well in a corner near the door. As much as he wanted to strangle him now was not the time. Eyghon was his priority right now. The demon had flung the table it held across the room and turned to face him now. It recognized him as Ripper, a threat. "Buffy, get out of here." With her here he still needed to maintain his image as Rupert.

"No!" He heard her shout before he saw her running across the store to stand in front of him, between him and the demon. "No!" Buffy yelled at the demon to go flying backwards into a bunch of empty cardboard boxes. The demon had some power over her then because of the Mark.

Something that made it rather difficult for him or Ethan to kill it themselves. He would have to stall the demon. Which meant he wasn't putting up much of a fight when it grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him to the ground.

Eyghon stood over him, looking down with a grin on his twisted face. "I've been waiting a long time to do this." He imagined the demon had. After being used as a catalyst for his and the others pleasure it was a wonder Eyghon hadn't come after him sooner. He really should have let Ripper out of his cage before now. He would have seen this coming, would have prepared for it. Then maybe all of this happening right now could have been avoided.

The door opened before the demon could reach down to grab him again. Giles could see Angel behind the demon, flinging it away to quickly follow the demon. He pushed himself up from the ground, turning so he could watch as Angel wrapped his fingers around Jenny's throat, pushing down.

"He's killing her," he had to fight to make his voice shake from the scene in front of him.

"No," Willow's voice was suddenly in his ear, her breath almost coming into contact with his skin, sounding heavy. Each of her hands were pressed firmly against him, holding him back from moving forward. Like Rupert wanted to do. But Ripper, he was grinning internally as Willow helped him to his feet. As Willow pressed against his right side only to step back when he was standing. Though her hands were still on him and he certainly didn't see any reason to move out from her grasp. "Trust me. This is gonna work."

If there was one person he trusted in this room it was her. He would have to make sure that was clear to her later.

Angel was still grappling with the demon, fighting to keep a hold on it's neck. Then Jenny's head titled back, she fell backward as Angel flew back into the wall, gurgling as if something was inside of him. And there was, it was Eyghon.

Giles wanted to smile, to kiss Willow, but then Jenny was on the floor gasping for air. Damn her. "Jenny." He leaned down next to her, taking her head and wishing it was someone else.

She wasn't responding though, just staring in front fo her and he turned his gaze to see the demon surface past Angel's skin to disappear back beneath a moment later. It was fighting with the other demon inside him for control, and then it's form was in the air, falling to dust as if it was staked itself.

Eyghon was dead.

"Jenny?" He turned back to her, seeing Ethan from the corner of his eye. His old mate caught the gaze and held it for a second, offering up a tight smile before standing up and making for the door. Giles said nothing. It was better if he left and never came back to Sunnydale.

"Rupert," Jenny said, and he had to stop himself from correcting her. The fool of a woman.

"You know that if the demon was in trouble it was going to jump into the nearest dead person," Buffy was looking at Willow when she spoke, just like he was.

"I put it in danger." Angel confirmed.

"And it jumped." Willow was smiling as she stood up.

"I've had a demon inside me for a couple of hundred years," Angel sighed, "Just waitin' for a good fight."

"Winner and still champion." Buffy was clinging onto Angel like Willow had practically done moments ago. He found himself wishing she would do it again in a different circumstance. Like using her legs instead of her arms...

"Uh... I think that Ethan guy disappeared again." He quickly shook the thought from his mind when Xander spoke. It still wasn't the time to be thinking about that.

"Darn. I really wanted to hit him till he bled." That was Buffy, though he doubted she would ever actually beat Ethan bloody.

"Well, at least it's over," Cordelia said.

He needed to take care of Miss Calendar right now though, not listen to the children. Giles hoisted the fool to her feet, keeping the frown off his face even though he wasn't looking at the teenagers. Jenny might still see it if she looked up and he hardly wanted to explain his obvious disgust towards her, especially in front of them. "Come on," he muttered, pushing past the door and out into the night.


End file.
